Saddle routing jig

[John]

I've been using 2 sided tape and a piece of plywood with a hole in it and some straight pieces of scrap. I finally decided to make one that's adjustable and sets up fast. I added the adjustments for length after the first run. Here's mine what is everyone else using?

[David Collins]

Here's a clip of the saddle mill I've used for the last 10 years, and couldn't imagine being without anymore (the video was tailored to show customers rather than professionals, but you'll see how it works).

http://youtu.be/eY9_RRyxByg

This is actually the old version, and believe it or not is a bit crude compared to the current design (sorry, no pictures or videos of the updated version yet). I've used it three times so far this week alone, and have another 2 or three on the rack I know I'll be pulling it out for next week.

It might seem a bit superfluous, but now that I've gotten used to having it in my tool arsenal, it has proven invaluable. Just yesterday I was installing a pickup in a Guild that was due for completion within two hours. Pulled out the saddle to find the saddle slot about .060" deep at the ends. While this used to be a more significant complication, with a good saddle mill it added about 3 minutes to the job and I was able to move on without any added time or worry.

Tomorrow I'll have to pull it out again to install a Fishman transducer in a Martin long saddle bridge, where I can easily cut a stepped inner slot for the transducer a thousandth or two shallower than the pickup within the longer saddle slot - another task that seemed near impossible to do quickly and accurately before I had a jig like this.